


When the World Burns

by Thunderbird_One_AI



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Hurt John, Hurt Scott, Missions Gone Wrong, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 13:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25849945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderbird_One_AI/pseuds/Thunderbird_One_AI
Summary: Missions don't always go to plan so when you make an order you expect it to be carried out quickly and without question. But John discovers that EOS doesn't solely listen to him. When another brothers life hangs in the balance, EOS decides that she should ignore Johns last order.This idea came from a Tumblr post that mentioned 'Would Eos obey a request from another Tracy brother if John was against it?'
Comments: 10
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first ever real Fic from Johns and EOS perspective. I only really write from Scott and Virgils perspective so this was a challenge but incredibly fun to write at the same time. It's not a huge fic but I hope you enjoy it regardless.

“EOS…. Please,”  
  
The A.I had not heard Scott beg often, and if she had, it was with a sarcastic tone. Scott was usually more sarcastic than he realized, but it was always for a good reason, to calm his family down. So, for EOS to hear Scott’s tone so serious made an anomaly in the ever-expanding data collection of the Tracy family. Scott was trying to calm John down. John who was normally the calmest brother, the one who responded to desperate pleas for help and gave his brothers other plans to help save as many as possible, was now panicking  
  
“No! Don’t do it EOS I’m almost at the section! I can get there, and we can make it to Thunderbird Three when the others arrive!” John was panicked, his heart rate beating faster than any time EOS had on record, his blood pressure has risen as well in stark contrast to Scott’s blood pressure, which was dropping alongside his heartbeat.  
  
“John we’ll both burn up before you even get to me! EOS eject Johns section!”  
  
EOS had hacked the cameras to the crumpled ship on Johns command, once they realised Scott had not made it out in time, unlike the workers they had successfully evacuated. It took seven point six seconds for Scott to respond. His breathing was laboured trying perhaps in an attempt to hide his pain from John only a few miles away, safely in Thunderbird Five. It took a further twenty seconds for John to conclude without EOS’s information to know Scott was trapped in the ship. A ship that was falling back into the Earth’s atmosphere with the temperature increasing by the second. John was floating through Thunderbird Five, reaching the access door to the endless abyss of space, shouting orders to EOS about trying to stabilise the ship, slow it is decent. But the blast had affected Thunderbird Fives systems, she was hit, and the ship was not going anywhere.  
  
EOS kept constant communication open with John and Scott, she was telling John the likely hood of success which the Tracy family had defied before. Again, another anomaly to add to the growing data. If EOS said there was a zero point zero, zero one percent chance of success, they would succeed. But this was different the percentages were negligible, there was no success rate, this was a failed mission. She alerted John to the statistics.  
  
“John, there is no way to slow the ship, by the time you get to Scott, the ship would have already entered Earths atmosphere. Thunderbird Three will not reach you in time,” EOS stated plainly.  
  
“Then run them again! There must be something!” John spoke quickly, already out of breath, whilst forcing his way through the mangled ship. “Get me to Scott,”  
  
“John you won’t make it. It’s getting hotter here, get out, no point in two of us going down,” Scott’s words were said slowly, with meaning but there was pain behind those words EOS noted.  
  
“Damn it I’m almost there! EOS open the final section! Please!”  
  
And there it was, the order EOS had been waiting for. Normally she would have opened the section already without John having to say anything. That is how it was in Thunderbird Five. John would start talking, making plans and EOS would follow effortlessly. But this time, she hesitated. If you could call zero-point six seconds hesitation. For the first time since she became part of Thunderbird Five, part of what is International Rescue, she refused to carry out Johns’ orders. The section of ship John was in rocked rather violently, sending John into the wall.  
  
“No EOS! Stop! He’s right there, open the damn door!” John’s heart rate increased, hands trying to override the command, trying to get the door open and somehow jump to where his brother was. He could not do it, EOS made sure of that.  
  
“I ejected the section John was in Scott,” EOS said directly to Scott’s comms. She heard a sigh amongst the eldest ever strenuous breaths.  
  
“Thank you…EOS,”  
  
“Goodbye…Scott,”


	2. Chapter 2

John watched the gap between Scott and himself expand. He got to work trying to prize the door open, to get to his brother. The brother who begged EOS. If John did not feel numb, he would have been truly shocked that Scott had begged in the first place, let alone to EOS. So, for Scott to beg would have made the whole family gasp. But they were not here, and neither was Scott. He was being pulled away from him, by the relentless, uncaring gravity of the Earth.  
  
“EOS! Let me out! I can still get to him! We’re wasting precious time!” John shouted, still slamming his fists against the door, not knowing any other way to try and open it.  
  
“You would have both been trapped John, he knew that that is why- “  
  
“Why listen to him now!” John interrupted EOS, looking up to the nearest camera, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. “You never listened to Scott before, you’ve ignored him! Why now! Why ignore me!”  
  
“John, he has your best intentions,”  
  
“So, you’re willing to let my brother die in order for me to live!” If John wasn’t so focused on looking through the window seeing his brothers' section fall closer to Earth, he would have noticed the glaring red light on his arm, informing him his heart was increasing rapidly and so was his blood pressure.  
  
“John, you need to calm down, your vitals are a cause for concern,” EOS stated calmly.  
  
“You’re the reason why they are like this! You’ve killed him!” John shouted.  
  
John saw the camera lens refocus itself. That was the last thing John wanted to say in this situation. To blame EOS for this was wrong. He felt the numbness return to him like before, he could not do anything. He could no longer speak; he couldn’t move he couldn’t even think. Nothing was focusing. John felt his chest rise and fall quickly but bringing in minimal air. His vision began to fade, getting worse each passing second.  
  
“Jo…hn,”  
  
His name being called out stalled his fading vision. He began to focus on who was speaking to him. It was muffled, he needed to focus harder to figure out who it was. To focus he needed to breathe properly.  
  
“That’s it…breathe….”  
  
That’s exactly what John did, he began to breathe in and out slowly. The darkness that threatened to take him seconds ago now distant, driven away by the calming, safe voice. That’s what John knew for sure, that the voice he was hearing oozed safety. Only very few people could make him calm down in such a dire situation like this. The voice that was talking to John almost made him look to his left, thinking they were right there and not miles away from him. John gasped for breath, his mind beginning to finally push through the haze. Not miles, metres! John realised whose voice that was. It was Scott’s. His brother, the one he still needs to save.  
  
“Scott,” John's voice came out as just a whisper, but his brother heard him.  
  
“I’m right here Johnny,” Scott’s voice was just as quiet, but John knew that the pilot was injured, his breathing laboured.  
  
“I’m sorry, I can’t….” John involuntary lets out a small sob. He couldn’t admit it. He couldn’t admit that his brother was one person he couldn’t save.  
  
“It’s okay John. You did your best. You can’t save everyone remember?” Scott replied John could still hear him trying to keep his voice steady.  
  
That was true, John had heard that statement so many times before. He’d even said to Scott on multiple occasions when rescues didn’t go to plan. He had said it so easily, knowing it was a fact. But now hearing it for himself, those words brought no comfort to him at all. John thought this was it. This was the last thing he would hear from his brother, telling him it wasn’t his fault that it was okay. Of course, even whilst dying Scott would still be the older brother John needed, wanted. But he wasn’t ready to let go, he didn’t want to let go.  
  
“John!” John heard another voice, bolder, panicked.  
  
“Virgil? “  
  
“We’re one minute out John, we’ve got information from EOS that your section is still stationary in space. But the part Scott’s in is burning up fast,” Virgil spoke quickly but john understood every word coming through the comms. Those words brought hope. His brothers hadn’t given up yet either, they weren’t ready to let go of their older brother.  
  
“The section will probably collapse before he fully enters the atmosphere again. We need to get to it now,” John forced himself to look out the window. The ship section that held Scott was further away, he could see the edges starting to turn red, heating up. “We don’t have much time,”  
  
“Then what do we do? How do we get him out of there?” Virgil asked through the comms still sounding distressed.  
  
“You can’t stop it, it’s going too fast now to slow down without tearing it apart completely,” John said frowning to himself. Was there no way to save his brother?  
  
“Why don’t we try and catch him instead?” John heard Alan say, of course, he was there too; Virgil wouldn’t be piloting Three if Alan was fit and able.  
  
“Like I said before, stopping the descent of the ship would tear it apart,” John replied.  
  
“I mean what if we just caught the section Scott was in? Three has arms, we could surround the section Scotts in and protect him from the heat and when we slow down, that section would be safe,” Alan suggested.  
  
“It could work but I have no idea that state of the walls surrounding Scott,” John said, forcing himself not to start panicking again.  
  
“The section Scott is trapped in is made from nano electrochemical aeroshell. The material is designed to the withstand heat and would not disintegrate easily when pierced. The structure would hold and not crush Scott unless too much pressure is applied on the arms,” John looked up to the camera, seeing the lens was still focused on him. EOS had never left him, even after what he said.  
  
“That’s a good enough confirmation as any and I don’t think we have another choice,” Virgil agreed with EOS, his voice sounding calmer knowing there was still hope.  
  
“I’ll pilot the arms, Virgil take over flying, keep her steady for me we’ve only got one shot at this,” John doubted he’d ever heard Alan so commanding before but it was Thunderbird Three, it was Alan's ship and he trusted Virgil completely, he just needed to trust himself too.  
  
“You’ve got this Alan,” John said in reassurance as he kept looking through the window, watching the entire event unfold.  
  
John saw Thunderbird Three get closer to the falling ship. Virgil was keeping her steady but the debris coming off the ship was not making this easy, she rolled, and the arms would just miss latching on. John could not remember the last time he took a breath; he did not want to with the irrational fear that even breathing would send Thunderbird Three off target. He was helpless to do anything. All he could do, was watch and hope they would all head home after this nightmare had ended.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it the final chapter. I set this whole scene up right before Brains found Jeffs emergency broadcast. Even with that in mind, it was tough not gonna lie, writing John was a huge challenge and I hope I didn't go OTT with his expressions and comments.

‘Beep……..Beep……….Beep,’  
  
Scott swore he knew that noise. He had heard it many times before. He knew that this sound meant something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t think as to why. Why this sound made him feel so worried and anxious. Scott tried to focus more, trying to pinpoint where exactly the beeping was coming from. But no amount of focus helped, he couldn’t see anything only hear this ‘beep’ noise overwhelming his hearing. Why was it so damn loud! Scott tried to move his head away from the noise, only to discover he couldn’t move his head at all. He realised he couldn’t feel anything. He couldn’t move his hands, feet or any other part of his body. Scott began to panic, even though he couldn't hear his voice, he called out hoping someone would hear him.  
  
‘Beep…Beep…Beep,’  
  
The noise grew louder, the gap between the ‘beeps’ growing smaller, this only made Scott panic more. Something wasn’t right, and he couldn’t do anything about it. He felt trapped….trapped! Scott’s eyes opened just before a vicious cough wracked through his body, his beaten body. Scott only came to that conclusion since everything hurt, a lot. The coughing didn’t stop it was relentless, breathing became a challenge. At least until something was forced over his face, Scott would have moved a hand up to it if he didn’t hurt so much.  
  
“Easy Scott, easy,” Scott recognised that voice, unmistakable.  
  
Scott opened his eyes and a very blurry image awaited him, but he couldn’t miss the splash of green in his image. A unique green that he would know anywhere. Virgil. Breathing became much easier now that he was able to roughly see who is was handling something to his face. Virgil meant safety, but safety from what? Scott couldn’t recall right now. He heard some other muffled sounds which Scott thought were voices but couldn’t tell immediately.  
  
“Deep breaths Scott. That’s it,” Scott heard Virgil say again in a soft tone.  
  
His vision cleared more, and he was able to make out the features of Virgil’s face. He was frowning, looking worried, which in turn made Scott frown. This added to Scott’s worry that something was wrong but again, he couldn’t figure out what.  
“He’s still confused most likely, he didn’t have much air left in his tank as well as all the injuries he sustained during the incident,” Scott heard Virgil even though he was looking away.  
  
Someone was hurt, badly by the sounds of it. Virgil did have a notion to over-worry but there was something in his voice that Scott noticed. It was underlying panic; something had shaken his brother badly meaning this was serious, but he didn’t know who was injured. Scott tried to sit up, pushing past the pain that threatened to make him cry out although, he believed this pain to be mostly in his head. He felt a hand on his shoulder thinking it was Virgil, he looked over to see not a blurry green utility belt, but an orange one.  
  
“Jo…hn,” Scott forced himself to say. Although his voice sounded rough and he was pretty sure it didn’t sound like he said John. More to the point, John was supposed to be on Thunderbird Five. Scott didn’t remember being told John was coming Earthside, so he concluded it was probably due to this incident Virgil spoke about. Even with the hand on his shoulder Scott still tried to move his head.  
  
“Don’t move so much Scott, the rebreather is doing a lot of work, so you don’t have to,”  
  
Now it was Scott's turn to frown at John. Why would Scott be wearing a rebreather….unless he was the one who was injured. A small groan slipped from Scott's lips as his body confirmed that the pain was indeed real and not just from the panic. Now one question was answered many more took its place. Why was he injured? Why was he ‘this’ badly injured? Scott saw John's face soften.  
  
“It’s alright Scott, you’re back on Earth. We got you out of the ship. Well Alan and Virgil did,” John said  
  
“I…I don’t remember,” Scott replied confused. Space mission? Their last issue was a broken-down cargo ship last month heading to the moon.  
  
“Alright John, he doesn’t need information overload just yet. Let him rest first, he’s still pretty weak,” Virgil said  
  
But Scott didn’t want to sleep, he wanted to know what happened. He felt his eyelids grow heavy suddenly, a faint cool feeling in his left hand spreading up his arm.  
  
“Sorry big brother but you need to rest,” this was the last thing Scott heard Virgil say before he felt the warm, painless unconsciousness claim him.  
  
TBTBTBTBTBTBTB  
  
When Scott woke up, the room was a lot darker, a faint glow illuminating from above him. There was less pain, but it didn’t stop him from moving slightly to try and lessen it further. He heard movement to his right.  
  
“Scott? You’re awake,” Scott looked to his right to see John looking at him, the hollo book he was reading down on his lap. At least he could see John now and it wasn’t just an orange blur. He saw John now in civilian clothing with a small blanket around his legs. “how are you feeling? I should probably wake Virgil,”  
  
“You kidding? Waking Virgil before sunrise,” Scott’s voice still sounded rough, his throat protesting at the sudden use, he coughed. Before he could speak again, John was there holding a small cup of water with a straw. The water was a refreshing and welcoming feeling going down his throat. When the cup was empty he relaxed more into the bed sighing.  
  
“I’m pretty sure Virgil would wake up knowing you’re finally awake again,” John said softly.  
  
“Again?”  
  
“You’ve been asleep for three days Scott,” John replied with a frown.  
  
“Three days? But I remember….waking up and seeing you earlier,”  
  
“Yes Scott you did, three days ago,” John sighed. “You were bad Scott. When they finally got to once they got you separated from the wreckage, you had three percent left on your oxygen tank, you weren’t even breathing when Virgil got you back to Thunderbird Three. Your left shoulder was dislocated, you had 3 broken ribs, two fractured. Your legs were bruised, even Virgil can’t believe there wasn’t one fracture on them. You were in bad shape Scott…still are,”  
  
Scott saw his younger brother, looking him over. Only then he realised John had bags under his eyes, he looked shattered.  
  
“When was the last time you slept,” Scott said breaking the small silence and it made John smile a little.  
  
“Even after all, I said you are more concerned about me,” Johns smile soon faded. “You almost died Scott, this was a close call, even for you. I wasn’t ten metres from you, I could see you form the door and EOS….damn it I can’t believe she listened to you,”  
  
“What did EOS do?” Scott asked, still looking to his younger brother.  
  
“You don’t remember? You asked EOS to separate the section of the ship I was in and she did it. She signed your death warrant Scott. I couldn’t get to you,”  
  
“But everything turned out okay. You got to me,”  
  
“I blamed EOS for killing you…”  
  
Scott frowned at that. He knew that statement hurt John deeply just by looking at his expression.  
  
“If I asked EOS to do something, I must have known you were going to something that we’d all regret. You know I’ve never… got along with…’her’ well. I must have had my reasons and she agreed. It kept you safe,”  
  
“Not at the cost of your own life Scott. If you….” John closed his eyes for a second before looking back to Scott and continuing. “We need you Scott….I need you, We’ve lost Mum, lost Dad and we couldn’t…I couldn’t bear it if I lost you too. We’ve lost so much Scott, we wouldn’t be able to function if we lost you,”  
  
Scott didn’t reply, how could he? John, his calm collective brother, had just completely opened up to him for the first time in possibly years. Scott himself knew he was the culprit of bottling things up until they burst open. Anyone could ask Virgil about how many ‘Brotherly’ talks they’ve had regarding Scott’s recklessness. But john? Even Scott had to admit he envied his younger brothers’ ability to seem so calm, and now Scott realised that wasn’t the case at all, John had bottled things up just as much as he had. Scott would have replied with ‘Dad would have done the same’ but John didn’t need that sentence to be said out loud. Scott sighed softly.  
  
“You’re so much like him Scott…I get worried you’re going to leave as he did,” John spoke quietly and moved his gaze away from Scott to face forwards again.  
  
Scott moved his hand slowly over to rest on John's arm, squeezing it. He didn’t say anything, Scott didn’t need to. Much like with Virgil, Scott was able to communicate his feelings without words coming from his lips. Even though Scott didn’t remember, it was a close call, so close that it even rattled John to his core. But in one simple gesture, he hoped that it was enough to convince John that he wasn’t going to go anywhere, that he’d stay here for as long as he could. Making sure they remained together, as a family.


End file.
